Hypnosis

Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention, described by the selective attention and selective inattention hypothesis, reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion. Competing theories explain hypnosis and related phenomena: altered-state theories treat it as an altered state of mind or trance marked by a level of awareness different from ordinary consciousness, while non-state theories treat it variously as a form of placebo effect, a redefinition of the interaction with a therapist, or a form of imaginative role enactment. During hypnosis a person is said to have heightened focus and concentration and an increased response to suggestion, and the process usually begins with a hypnotic induction involving a series of preliminary instructions and suggestions; its therapeutic use is called hypnotherapy, while its use as entertainment for an audience is known as stage hypnosis, a form of mentalism. The use of hypnosis to retrieve and integrate early trauma remains controversial within the scientific mainstream, and research indicates that hypnotizing a person may aid the formation of false memories, with medical hypnosis often considered pseudoscience or quackery.